An InTraining love story
I grew up in a smokin,’ drinkin,’ fun-lovin’ Prairie household.
My mother and father were diehard Saskatchewan Roughriders fans and extreme armchair athletes when we were growing up. They put us kids in sports to keep us out of trouble and they were our biggest fans.
They were there in full force at the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles, waving their giant Canadian flag, cheering louder than anybody as I received my bronze medal.
In the 1990s, they quit smoking and cut back on the drinking. In 2007, my dad asked me to tell him about that “Sun Run thing.”
He asked: “What would we have to do to prepare for it?” My parents had retired in White Rock, and dad had recovered from a stroke and cancer.
They decided to follow the Walk10K program. My dad was thrilled that they had to only walk three times per week, and his thought process was to train Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, so he could then kick back and do nothing for the rest of the week. “Sorry dad, you have to spread those sessions out and stick to the program.”
I sensed their apprehension. “Do you think we can do it?” they asked me. Thirteen weeks later, I was trying to spot my parents on the Vancouver Sun Run home stretch. It makes me cry when I think back — married 50 years, five kids and very full lives, happy and smiling as they crossed that Vancouver Sun Run finish line together, hand-in-hand.
For me, their story is the ultimate in love, support and friendship. Wishing you much love this Valentine’s Day week.